Recycled Kitchen Drawer into a Drink Station Organizer

A couple weeks ago I picked up several free old wood kitchen drawers and cabinet fronts.  Four of the drawers were used to make nesting boxes for the chickens.  I then had 1 regular size drawer and 1 deep drawer.  While looking for ways to re-purpose them I saw how they can be hung on the wall for shelves.  I drew up a plan and my husband made it for me.  I sanded it and applied antique finishing oil to it to bring out the natural wood tone.  The vintage shelf liner was still in the drawer and in excellent condition so I left it in.  The shelves were made from recycled dresser drawer sides and bottoms.  The only thing purchased was the quarter round that the shelves sit on and it was less than $2.
I now have a nice organized drink station for less than $2 and saves on counter space.  The drawer I have left is a deep drawer and need to come up with a plan for it.  Also the cabinet fronts are waiting for a project.  All the stuff is vintage and is all solid wood.

My drink station.

Re-cycled kitchen drawer into a drink organizer.

The re-cycled drawer.

I'm going to add a towel to the drawer handle.

Re Purposing A Wooden Ironing Board into a Corner Shelf

We have re purposed 2 wooden ironing boards and have a couple still in the garage.  I asked Ron if he could take one and make a corner shelf for the kitchen and the below is what he came up with. The shelves are made from a wooden ironing board that was unusable for anything but parting it out. So the whole unit is made from old wooden ironing boards 50+ years old.  My idea, my husbands skills and now I have a very nice shelf to display some of my chicken stuff.
We have 3 more wooden ironing boards and Ron is going to make some more and I am going to try and sell them in my Etsy store.

http://www.fresh-eggs-daily.com/2013/09/from-farm-blog-hop-and-how-to-make.html

http://www.myrepurposedlife.com/2013/09/catch-as-catch-can-136.html

Moving Day Went Very Good

By 10 AM everyone was in their new homes and things seem to be doing good.  The broiler chickens and turkeys stay all bunched up right now but when they get used to their new space they will explore more on their own.  The 3 baby chickens and 1 turkey are all over their huge space and seem be enjoying it just fine.

The broody chicken thing is not going so good, there were 2 other chickens trying to sit on the eggs, someone else laid another egg in that nest that no one has used for over 6 weeks and Miss Broody was sitting on another next that had 2 eggs.  I moved the other 2 chickens and did not enjoy all the biting they were doing and put Miss Broody back on the eggs.  The other 2 chickens who were on the eggs when I first went out starting to get her off the nest and then they was a little hen fight going on.  When I left them things had settled down but I'm not sure this is going to work.  It was much easier to listen to her cry when i took the eggs everyday than to go through this.

This is my brooder; picked the baby bed up at an auction for $1, Ron brought some heavy cardboard home and used zip ties to enclose the sides, used a piece of scrap plywood left over from the turkey coop for the bottom, used recycled pallet wood to build the lid and covered it with chicken wire.  Not a beautiful thing but for the price it works just fine.  Total cost about $2.

The 3 chickens and 1 turkey (one in front) in their new huge home for  about 4 weeks and then they will go outside.

This is the broiler home; cost for this was only the zip ties and the 2 pieces of lumber for the roosts.  The fence frame was from the neighbor who gave it to us for cleaning up the eye sore he had going on, I bartered with him for it and some that Ron got at work.  The chicken wire was some we got free last year, it is a heavy duty stuff not like what you buy at the store.  The tarps were some we got at Menards and when you mail in your receipt and the rebate form you got your money back.  Nothing fancy but will only be using it for the summer.  We will take off the tarps for the winter and the rest will sit until next year.  We don't have any wheels on it yet to move it around but Ron is working on getting some free and then we can move them to new ground so they have grass to eat all the time.  He also is adding another support post in the front tonight, we kept some of the left over posts in case we needed them.

  Just remembered that really we made money on building this.  All the chain link fence and metal pieces we couldn't use we took to the scrap yard and got a little over $50 for the stuff.

All huddled up in the shade eating grass.

Miss Broody

Yard Work, I LOVE Yard Work, Really

Yesterday was a beautiful day so I worked outside all day long.  I started on the front yard first and part way through I managed to get the mower in a ditch in the front side of the yard.  I managed to get it buried up to the axle of the back wheels.  In my defense I usually use the lawn tractor to do that part but with all the rain the ground was way to saturated and the more I tried to get it out the worse it got.
I called my husband at work and asked if I ever got the lawn tractor stuck how would I pull it out with my vehicle.  He said no way could I do it and said it was almost lunch time and would come home and get it out.  He came home put a chain on the front of the tractor, hooked it to the back of his truck and in less than 10 seconds it was out.
While I was waiting for him I put together some recycled, re-purposed yard art flowers and put them out by my Fresh Eggs sign.  I thought it needed a little bling.
After the flowers I then went back to mowing and finished everything I could with the lawn tractor and then got out the push mower and finished the places I could not do with the tractor; like the ditch.

Today I pulled the few weeds from my garden beds, I have onions, radishes, beets, 2 kinds of lettuce and peas up. The potatoes should be coming up in a week or so.

My sign with my flower art.

Copper decorative bowl and jello mold on green rods with old spoons pounded flat for the leaves.

View of the front of the house, check out those neat straight mowing lines.

Side yard, the bush to the right is a lilac bush and next to it is the little ditch I got the mower stuck in.

View of my "Garden of Eden".  Potatoes are in the front end, big empty space for tomatoes and whatever, radishes, lettuce, beets and peas at the far end by the blackberry bushes.

2 raised beds of onions with some chives and other herbs in the bed on the left.  That is my guard rooster who watches over everything.

Finally Got To Get Out of the House

It was warm enough today to go out and work in the garage with the door open,  First I took apart an old wood ironing board that I got a couple weeks ago at a town auction for $2.50.  It is in pretty rough shape but I know I can do something with it.  I had to use the hand grinder to get the rivets off and the only problem I have with it is it is hard for me to push the lever to turn it on.  They are made child proof and I guess old lady proof.  I took out all the screws and nail and then proceeded to glue it back together.  One side had came off and the rest of the boards needed glued.  This board is no where as in nice as condition as the ones I have.  It has character and has small worm holes through out the board.  I will take it off of the braces tomorrow to see how it turned out.  The next step is to do some sanding and then I need to let it "talk" to me to see what it wants to be.  I also sanded some light fixtures preparing them for some spray painting and then turning them into Ball Jar Lights.  Ball contacted me this week and offered to send me some of their new Ball Blue Jars they are putting out this year, of course I said I would be more than glad to evaluate them and write about them on the blog.  I plan on using them when I make the lights.  I also started to take apart a very old small rocking chair that I picked up for free at a village auction that  no one wanted.  It was in pretty bad shape but I knew I could use some of the wood to make some special things.  I have another nicer rocker that I picked up but not sure yet what I am going to do with it, it doesn't have a seat or back but the wood is nice and old.
I also had some copper bowels and candlestick holders, estate sale finds, that I turned into some eclectic flowers for the yard. They are not done yet but have a good start.  I will have to take some pictures of the things I've got done so far.
When Ron got home we worked on the turkey coop which is coming along real nice.  It looks like the turkeys will get to move in on Sunday.  Of course the staining won't be done until it warms but I don't think they will really care as much as I will.

My Re Purposed Wooden Ironing Board

In December I wrote about using an old wooden ironing board and turning it into a wall decoration and said I had another one that I was working on, well it is finally done.  I have this right inside my back door and just love it.

Wooden ironing board, old forks curled and bent for hooks and a basket to hold small items.

All I did to the board was to sand it down and use Min Wax Antiquing oil, added the fork hooks and added the basket.

Isn't she pretty.

The basket had handles but I cut them off.

Right now it has my chores jacket, my apron, bag on the left holds plastic bags and  basket has my gloves , earmuffs and any other thing I need to use outside.

Everything for this was FREE, Ron got the ironing board out of the scrap, forks from the scrap and the basket was in some stuff last week that someone did not take after the auction.

After auctions people go through their stuff and leave the stuff they don't want.  We do this with larger items but we usually bring the small  stuff home and go through it here.

My Crochet Purses/Bags Going to Georgia

Most of you know that I opened an Etsy store almost 4 weeks ago.  In my store I have a variety of vintage rescued items from estate sales, auctions and have my rag crocheted items.  A gentleman from Georgia saw my rag crocheted items and contacted me about 2 weeks ago asking if I would send him one of my purses so he could evaluate it for his store.  We wrote back and forth and I agreed to send it to him at a reduced price.  After looking it over he wrote and asked if I could make one with a shoulder strap so this weekend I made up 3 of them and sent him some pictures yesterday.  He  wrote back and wanted them plus 3 of the original ones.  He picked out what he wanted and paid for everything and now they are their way to Georgia.
What started out by seeing something while surfing, crocheting to rehab my hand after surgery has lead to this.
When I make the purses/bags I use ALL recycled items and a wonderful reader sent me some buttons that I have been using and some of the material I am using is from my sister-in-law Gale from Texas.  So I have items from Illinois, Texas and Pennsylvania going to a shop in Georgia.  Pretty neat.

Shoulder strap bag.

Close up of the shoulder strap purse.

One of the original style purses that went to Georgia.

Baby it's Cold Outside and my Auction Finds

Yesterday it was 50 degrees and today it didn't get out of the 20's.  Monday and Tuesday we will be lucky to get to 15 degrees.
We went to a large auction yesterday where I got a lot of linens, some material and lots of tablecloths.  The linens will be used for rag crocheting and I will put the tablecloths on Etsy or Ebay.  This lady loved sheep and everything had sheep on them.  There was 1 hay wagon with huge bags of wool that had been dyed and ready to be spun.  There had to be at least 100 garbage bag size bags of the wool, it  was beautiful.  Also there was about 50 garbage bags of material, huge amount of sewing items, yarn and 1 hay wagon full of baskets.  The antique furniture was beautiful.  It was hard to believe that all the stuff came out of a 3 bedroom old house.  I'm sure most of the stuff had to come out of a garage or barn.  I can't say for sure but I would think she was a hoarder.  Of the $20 I spent yesterday I should make at least $200 +.   All the boxes of stuff I got were only $1 each.  I think that they just went through the house and threw everything in a box or bag and I always find some good treasures that way. I also got lots of patterns that I will go through to make sure all the pieces are there and then put them on one of the sites.  People love vintage patterns.  If I don't sell something after a short time then I find someone who might want it or take it to Goodwill.  I need to keep turning over the stuff because I have such a small place to keep it and don't want my kids to clean stuff up when I die.

Recycling Project # 1

Several weeks ago Ron brought home an old wood ironing board that he thought I might like to do something with.  The first thing he did was to take it completely apart.  Then I had him use the wood from the legs and glued them together so I could make a shelf.  The same night he brought it home it spoke to me and I knew what I wanted to make.  Ron went to work doing the electrical part and he cut the shelf when the glue was good and dry.  I used 2 of the 4 lamp sconces that he brought home the first of December to make into the lights.  Then I used 2 Ball Blue Jars for the light shades.  I sanded all the wood and then applied 2 coats of Minwax Antique Finishing Oil to the ironing board and the little shelf.  The oil brought out the grain in the wood and gave it a nice shine.  Tonight Ron hung it in the spot next to the fridge and it looks absolutely beautiful.  Cost for the project was about $8.00 for the oil but have plenty left over and a pull cord for the lights.  The rest of the stuff was all recycled items.

Project # 2 might showcase tomorrow, hint it has something to do with another wood ironing board.  Ron said in all the years he has worked at the scrap yard (44 years) this was the first time he has saw wooden ironing boards brought in.  Of course if he sees more he will bring them home.

This is what the wood looks like before the oil.

After the second oiling.

From top to bottom; 2 recycled light sconces, 2 of my Ball jars, my chicken plate sitting on the shelf made by gluing the wood legs together.  It is absolutely beautiful!! 

Crocheted Baskets/Bags

Over the Christmas holiday I gave 6 of the crocheted bags away that I had made earlier this month and sold one to Gina who filled it with some homemade soap to give someone she worked with.   My stock has gone down so I have been crocheting them when I have some free time.  Ron helped me tie some of the rags together and then wind them up.  I have a basket of recycled linens ready to be cut in strips and washed the rest of the linens that I had stored.   I hung them out side and some froze even before I got them on the lines.  Then I hung some on the lines in the laundry room when I ran out of room outside.
I use the word "recycled" when I use something that had been previous used.  Now I guess the word "up-cycled" is being used.  I guess "up-cycled" sounds classier than recycled.  Whatever you call it, recycled or up-cycled, that is what I am doing.  I use recycled linens and material to crochet baskets or bags.

Local family and friends:  I need recycled buttons.  If you are throwing away something with buttons please cut the buttons off for me.  Thanks

Recycled linens, lace from a recycled pillow case, recycled button.

All recycled items.

Recycled linens, lace from a pillow case and button.

Vintage potato mashers made into baskets with recycled linens.

Recycled linens.

Recycled basket with recycled t-shirts and buttons.

Vintage Ball Jar Kitchen Light

This past year I've seen several different ways that people use vintage mason jars and make them into light fixtures.  I liked them and wanted to make a ceiling fixture that I could replace the fixture by my kitchen sink with.  I asked Ron to watch for a fixture that would work.  He brought home a 4 bulb fixture that was mounted under a ceiling fan  to see if this would work.  I spray painted the fixture gray to match the zinc vintage canning lids and Ron fixed the lids to the fixture so I could screw the jars on.  I also had him drill 2 small holes in the lids so the heat from the bulb could vent out.  Then in the middle of the fixture Ron took a wide mouth zinc lid and screwed it there to hide the wiring.  I used 4 ball blue mason jars and I think it looks perfect.  The only cost was for the 4 jars and they were about 75 cents each.  Recycled fixture, vintage jars and lids equal a pretty neat looking fixture.
I have a vintage hanging 5 light fixture that I would like to re-do sometime.  I paid $1 for it but it hangs down too low to hang it in our house.  Just for the heck of it I'm thinking about hanging it in the storage shed.  This is a project for next spring when its warm out so I can do some painting on it.

My new kitchen light.

You can see the center cap in this picture.

Rag Baskets, Rag Bags

This last week I've been keeping myself busy making rag bags and rag baskets.  It has kept me busy and is helping me rehab my left hand.  Tomorrow I go back to therapy so I will see how much progress I've made.
I taught myself to crochet almost a year ago by watching YouTube videos.  The reason I wanted to learn was I wanted to learn how to make rag rugs like my grandmother made.  I can't read patterns and have no idea what stitches I make are called, I just crochet.   I made about 18 rugs and gave some away, sold some and use several.  After seeing some pictures on some blogs of rag baskets I liked them and decide to make some.  As you can see below I have made 11 so far and am almost done with number 12.  I am almost out of rags that are ready to be crocheted so will need to get out the stuff I have washed and start cutting some more.  I have several loads of old linens to wash to use and will wash some tomorrow so I can hang them out to dry.

Baskets/bags made using recycled clothes and linens.  I used some old buttons and crocheted items I had to embellish them.

More baskets/bags made using recycled items.

Making Rag Baskets

I've been getting up at 4 everyday; the older I get the less sleep I need or that's what they say.   After making a couple of rag baskets on Monday and loving them I've found something to do on long winter days.  I had a lot of material/old sheets/old shirts already cut into strips that needed to be connected and then wound in balls.  I did that yesterday for several hours and have all that I had cut up done.  It takes longer to prepare the material than it does to crochet it.  Last night I made nice size basket and so far today I've made 3 and working on the fourth.
It took me 45 minutes yesterday to clean the living room after working with the material.  You'd be amazed at all the dust/lint that it creates.  Cleaning everyday after working on the stuff is a pain but I can't stand to see anything on the carpet.  I have a lot more old items that need cut up and hopefully I have enough stuff ready to keep me busy until after Christmas.
My hand doesn't hurt as bad as it did yesterday which is good.  I've taken more pills for pain in the last week than I did after the surgery.  The doctor said that would be the case.
What am I going to do with all these baskets after I make them, no plans.  It keeps me busy and costs NOTHING.  It's a lot better than just sitting watching TV, I'm a little hyper and have to have something to do all the time.  My sister-in-law Gale is always telling me to cut back on things and rest.   I always remind her that I will get all the rest I need when I'm dead!!! :)

Crocheted Rag Baskets

A couple weeks ago while "surfing" I saw some cute crocheted rag baskets and wanted to try to make some.  I had to wait until my hand was better and since I was up at 4 this morning I decided to try to make one.  They are made just like the rag rugs and I really think they are cute.  The first one I made today was from some recycled white t-shirts from my son-in-law.  After making it I wanted to age it a little so I picked some used tea bags out of the top of the garbage and boiled them and then put the basket in it to age it. Then I made another one from some old sheets that someone gave me.  My hand is hurting pretty bad so I overdid it a bit.
There are so many uses for these; use it in the garden to put veggies in, egg basket, use as a purse, put a baking dish in to take to a pot luck, fruit basket and many more.  I have a lot of old sheets, table cloths, t-shirts and misc fabric that people have given me to make rag rugs so these are made using recycled items at no cost.  You can make so many different shapes, with or without handles and different kind of handles.  I will post pictures of mare as I make them.

Basket before I tea aged it.

T-shirt basket and sheet basket.

The tea aged basket will be my new egg gathering basket.